Movable roof structure



Oct. 12, 1965 P. GUGL|OTTA MOVABLE ROOF STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 31, 1963 RMf w OT N T m m1 T w n ma L mm P Mn B Oct. 12, 1965 P. GUGLIOTTA 3,2 3

MOVABLE ROOF STRUCTURE Filed May 31, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR PAUL GUGLIOTTA Oct. 12, 1965 P. GUGLIOTTA 3,

MOVABLE ROOF STRUCTURE Filed May 31, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR YPAUL GUGLIOTTA B mmafw ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,211,163 MOVABLE ROOF STRUCTURE Paul Gugliotta, 28 South St., New York, N.Y. Filed May 31, 1963, Ser. No. 284,633 4 Claims. (Cl. 135-5) This invention relates to movable roof structures and especially to movable roof structures for covering large openings and spans.

The desirability of movable roof structures has long been recognized especially for auditoriums, stadia and the like. The desirability of having an open air structure for such purposes is great. However, if a function, play, tournament, game or the like is scheduled for an open air structure and the weather becomes inclement, it is often necessary to cancel the event which leads to serious disruption of the schedules of both the performers and the spectators. Moreover, serious economic losses may result. Accordingly, it has long been recognized that a movable roof which could be employed in inclement weather to protect the participants and spectators of such events from the weather is extremely desirable. Unfortunately, to date, most movable roof structures have proved so costly that they have not been extensively employed.

The present invention is directed to a new and improved movable roof structure which is inexpensive to construct and is highly dependable.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a new and improved movable roof structure wherein substantially all of the structural means for supporting the roof are in tension.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of a new and improved movable roof structure employing interacting cables as the main structural elements for supporting the movable roof whereby to greatly reduce the cost of said structure.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a new and improved movable roof structure employing as the main supporting means for the movable roof two catenary cables which catenaries are capable of spanning long distances and still yielding an effective support structure at low cost.

In accordance with the present invention, a movable roof of a flexible or flaccid nature is supported from an upper concave downwardly extending catenary, which catenary operates in conjunction with a lower upwardly extending catenary cable for preventing upward movement of the roof under wind pressure and the like. The lower catenary is supported by the upper catenary by distributed hangers or suspenders.

The above and other objects, characteristics and features of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a movable roof structure embodying the present invention and showing one module of the support structure for the roof, the roof being shown in closed condition;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the roof in open condition;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the structure embodying the supporting modules illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the roof being shown in closed condition;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing a module embodying the present invention in connection with an asymmetrical structure;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing a further modification of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing still another form of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and particularly to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 thereof, a structure 10 having a movable roof 12 is illustrated therein. The structure is provided with sides 14 and 16 of any suitable conventional design such as brick, concrete, aluminum or stainless siding (or it may be open), ends 13 and 20 the form of which may be any type desired by the user, only the basic support structure being shown in the drawings. The building 16 is formed of a plurality of cable assemblies or modules 22 and the invention resides primarily in the construction of said modules in various relations. One of the modules 22 of the building 10 is shown in FIG. 1 with the roof 12 in closed condition. The module comprises end braces 24 and 26 which are rigid columns of any suitable design. The lower ends of the two end braces 24 and 26 are anchored in any suitable manner such as in a foundation 28. To hold the end braces in vertically extending condition as shown in the drawings, cable stays 30 and 32 are fixed to the tops of the braces 24 and 26 and are also secured to a fixed foundation 28 which may be a part of the foundation 28 or separate therefrom. Secured to the upper ends of the braces 24 and 26 is a catenary cable 34 which hangs or sags downwardly from the upper ends of the two braces 24 and 26. Disposed on the upper catenary cable 34 are a number of rollers 36, 38, 4t), 42, 44 and 46 all of which are adapted to run along upper catenary cable 34. Fixed to the rollers 36 to 46, inclusive, are hangers 48, 50, 52, 54, 56 and 58 which are preferably made of cables although rod-like members may be employed. Secured to the bottom ends of hangers 48 to 58, inclusive, are a second group of rollers 60, 62, 64, 66 and 63. It will be seen that each hanger has its own upper roller and each hanger, except the center two hangers 52 and 54, has its own lower roller. However, for reasons which will become apparent hereinafter, the two center hangers 52 and 54 are both secured to one lower roller 64 which they share.

Secured to the foundation 28 at the base of brace 24 is a lower catenary cable 70 which extends: upwardly from its base securement point over all lower rollers 60, 62, thence around roller 64 which permits a reversal of direction (i.e., permits lower catenary cable 70 to pass through zero slope), thence downwardly over roller 66 and thence around the bottom roller 68 through a second point of zero slope, and thence upwardly to be fixed to the upper catenary cable 34 at some point close to the top of the brace 26, namely the point 72. To hold the catenary cable 70 in the illustrated shape of a concave upward bend, a movable tie-down cable 74 is employed. The movable tie-down 74 is fixed relative to the base 28 adjacent one side 14 of the building 10 as at the point 76. From this point the movable tie-down 74 extends upwardly and inwardly and is adapted to pass through a central aperture in each of the rollers 68 in each of the modules 22 until it comes to the module 22 alongside side 16 where the tie-down 74 passes downward and outward to be secured relative to the base 28 as at the point 78. The tie-down 74 is under tension and serves to maintain the lower catenary in the illustrated shape. As will be seen hereinafter the tie-down 74 is adapted to move or oscillate for reasons which will become apparent as this description proceeds.

Secured to the upper catenary 34 at the point 72 is the movable roof 12. The roof 12 is disposed under the upper catenary 34 and is secured to the rollers 36, 38, 4t), 42, 44 and 46 and to other rollers 78, 80, 82, 84 and 86 which are not associated with any hangers but merely serve to support the roof structure on the upper catenary cable 34.

The main roof 1?. may be made of any suitable flexible flaccid material such as, for example, canvas, rubberized canvas, plasticized canvas, plastic sheet, fiber glass reinforced plastic sheet, and so forth. A fixed roof portion 13 is preferably employed to overlie the upper eatenary 34 from the top of brace 26 to point 72. The flexible roof 12 is fixed to the upper eatenary at the point 72 and is secured to the rollers 36, 33, 411, 42, 44, 46, 78, 8t 32, 84 and 36. The endmost roller 78 remote from the point 72 is secured to an endless cable 88 which extends around a driving sheave or pulley 919 secured to the top of the brace 24 by a bracket 91 and an idler roller or pulley 92 secured to the top of the brace 26 as by a bracket 94. Mounted on the bracket 91 supporting the pulley 90 is a motor means here shown as an electric motor 96 having an output shaft 98 fixed to the pulley 90. The motor means 96 is reversible so that it can move the endless cable 88 in two opposed directions. When the pulleys or rollers 78 of all of the modules 22 are disposed adjacent the tops of the braces 24 the roof 12 will be substantially taut and the hangers 48, 51), S2, 54, 56 and 58 will be disposed in the positions illustrated in FIG. 1. In this condition it will be seen that the roof will be closed. If it is desired to open the roof the motor means 96 will be energized in such a manner as to rotate the pulley 90 in a counterclockwise direction whereby to move the lower reach of the cable 83 to the right and thereby pull the roller 78 to the right along the upper catenary 34. As the rollers 78 engage the rollers 80 they will push the rollers 89 to the right and as the rollers 80 engage the rollers 36 they will push the rollers 36 to the right and start to move the hangers 48 of each of the modules 22. The successive engagements of rollers with adjacent rollers will cause a movement of all of the hangers and rollers to the right until they are disposed in the condition of FIG. 2. During this rightward movement of the rollers, the movable tie-down 74 will swing upwardly in conformance with the change of shape of the lower catenary cable 76. By moving all of the hangers to the right the lower eatenary cable 70 will be reshaped as it will be supported only at three points. The first of these three points is at a point 100 which is the point of fixed securement between the lower eatenary 7 and a fixed hanger 102 extending from the top of the brace 24. The second point will be a distributed point of all of the adjacent lower rollers 60, 62, 64 and 66 and the third point will be the roller 68 about which the lower catenary cable 70 extends and thence upwardly to the point 72. The flexible roof 12 will fall in long looping folds between the hangers 48, 50, 52, 54, 56 and 58. When it is desired to reclose the roof all that need be done is to energize the motors 96 in such a manner that their output shafts 98 turn the pulleys 90 in a clockwise direction whereby to move the lower reach of the cables 88 to the left as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2 to thereby pull the upper pulleys 78 which are secured to the lower reach of the cables 88 to the left, and as the fold between the rollers '78 and 80 straightens out the roof material itself will apply tension to the rollers 80 and thereby pull the rollers 80 to the left which in turn will cause a pulling of the rollers 36 to the left and so forth until the roof assumes its closed condition as shown in FIG. 1.

It will be understood that various electrical control means may be employed in connection with motors 96 to insure that they operated in the proper direction and that they are deenergized at the completion of an opening or closing movement. These controls are not illustrated herein as they may be conventional in nature and well within the scope of anyone skilled in the art of electrical control. Moreover, it will be understood that the operations of the motors may be controlled manually by man ual switches and the circuitry for such manual control may be readily designed by anyone skilled in the art.

As noted hereinbefore, the two center hangers 52 and 54, although secured to separate upper rollers 40 and 42, are both secured to the same lower roller 64. The purpose for this is to provide a longer hanger connection at the center of the lower eatenary 70 whereby to avoid the use of a short hanger normal to the centers of both the upper and lower catenaries, which hanger would interfere with the movement of the hangers to the left of it and which hanger would also be required to carry substantially the full weight of the lower eatenary 70 when the roof is in its full open condition. By providing for two longer hangers 52 and 54, both of which extend angularly from the center of the lower eatenary 7 0 and both of which give a resultant upward lift that is normal to the center of the lower eatenary, all of the hangers 48, 50, 52, 54, 56 and 58 can share the load of the lower eatenary 70 in the open condition of the roof.

With the construction shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, it will be seen that the upper eatenary 34 serves to carry substantially all of the weight load of the roof 12 and its supporting structure including the load of the lower eatenary 7 0 which is suspended from the upper eatenary 34 by the hangers. However, the lower catenary serves to prevent the roof from flapping upwardly due to wind uplift or the like as this cannot happen when the upper eatenary is in the condition shown in FIG. 1. Thus, at times when the roof is tended to be blown upwardly which could damage the entire structure, upward movement of catenary 34 and roof 12 is prevented effectively by the lower eatenary 70. Of course, when the roof is in its open condition as shown in FIG. 2, there is substantially less pos sibility of upward wind loads on the roof so that the lower eatenary can carry loads as a straight tension line. Because of this, the lower cable 7@ can have its configuration changed to one less able to withstand tension. More over, it will be seen that by employing the expedient of two oppositely directed catenaries 34 and 70, substantially every member in the structure except for the braces 24 and 26 are cable members that are in tension whereby to enable the use of relatively inexpensive cable as opposed to far more expensive rigid compression type structures.

While the structure 10 contains a plurality of parallel modules 22, the modules 22 may be arranged out of parallel relationship as, for example, in diverging relationship from end 20 toward end 18, or vice versa. Also, it is not necessary that the two ends of eatenary 34 be at the same height as will become apparent from a description of FIG. 4 below.

Moreover, the movable roof 12 may be suspended from the lower eatenary 70 rather than from the upper eatenary 34 in which event appropriate modifications of the roof driving mechanism must be made.

While I have illustrated my structure utilizing one movable tie-down cable 74 in connection with all of the modules 22, which is preferred, it Will be obvious that a plurality of movable tie-downs, one for each module, may also be employed within the scope of the invention.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a slightly modified form of the present invention is shown. In this form of the invention the structure is made of a plurality of modules 122, one of which is illustrated in FIG. 4. The roof 124 is illustrated although the cable and motor means therefor is deleted as they are identical to that shown in FIGS. 1 through 3. The main purpose for illustrating the module 122 is to show that the structure in which the invention is employed need not be a symmetrical structure but can be asymmetrical. For example, in the construction illustrated in FIG. 4, the roof portion 113 from the point 172 at which the lower eatenary cable is secured to the upper eatenary cable 134 over to the top of a rigid anchor 173 for the upper eatenary cable 134 may be a permanent type roof overlying the upper catenary cable 134 in this area. The remainder of the roof, that is from a point 172 over to the leftmost roller 178 may be the flexible flaccid type roof 112 heretofore described in connection with FIGS. 1 through 3. However, it will be seen that with the arrangement shown and especially with the utilization of the movable tie-down 174 which functions substantially identically to movable tiedown 74 hereinbefore described, the structure can be employed in an asymmetrical manner wherein a seating arrangement can be disposed, for example, in the vicinity of the brace 124 and a stage or other platform for performers and the like may be disposed under the permanent roof portion 113 hereinbefore described. It will be understood that the parts of the module 122 in FIG. 4 which correspond to the structure 22 in FIGS. 1 to 3 have the same reference numerals but increased one hundred. All corresponding parts function precisely the same as the corresponding parts in FIGS. 1 to 3. Further, several parts have been deleted from the illustration in FIG. 4 for simplicitys sake. For example, in addition to the motor means for the movable roof 12, the intermediate rollers 80, 82, 84 and 86 also have been deleted although obviously they would preferably be employed in connection with the present invention as illustrated in FIG. 4.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a symmetrical arrangement is shown substantially similar to FIGS. 1 to 3, the module in the symmetrical arrangement of FIG. 5 being designated by the reference numeral 222. In the arrangement shown in FIG. 5, the lower catenary cable 270 rather than being tied at one end near the base of one of the braces 224 and tied at the other end by a movable tie-down such as tie-down 74 or 174 is shown as having both of its ends fixedly tied adjacent the braces 224 and 226. In such an arrangement, a separate fixed hanger 257 is added in lieu of looping the lower catenary cable around the right hand most lower roller and thence up to the upper catenary. Apart from this change the structure embodying a plurality of spaced apart parallel modules 222 will function substantially identically with the structure in FIGS. 1 to 3. It will be understood as was true with FIG. 4, that numerous parts are deleted in FIG. 5 for simplicity of illustration and that parts in FIG. 5 corresponding to parts in FIG. 1 have reference numerals identical with the reference numerals used in FIG. 1 except that they are two hundred higher. Moreover, it will be noted that flexible roof 212 (not shown) can cover the entire span of upper catenary 234, no permanent or fixed roof portion being employed.

In all of the preceding embodiments described, the flexible roof 12, 112, 212 has always been disposed to one side of the structure in its open condition, however, if desired the flexible roof can be disposed centrally of the structure in its open condition with it being pulled in from both ends at the same time. Such an arrangement is shown in FIG. 6 wherein the module 322 embodying this modification is illustrated. It will be understood, as was true hereinbefore, that the module 322 is incorporated in a structure employing a plurality thereof much in the same way as the module 22 is incorporated in the structure 10 as shown in FIG. 3. Referring to FIG. 6 the module 322 includes an upper catenary cable 334 which extends from the upper ends of two end braces 324 and 326 braced by diagonal cable stays 330 and 332, respectively. Extending downwardly from the upper catenary 334 are a left hand plurality of vertically extending hangers 335, 337, 339 and 341 of diminished length as their designating numeral increases and a right hand plurality of vertically extending hangers 343, 345, 347 and 349 of increasing length as their reference numeral goes higher. Each of the hangers depends from a roller which rides on the upper catenary 334 in the manner previously described. Further, each of the hangers has a roller connected to the bottom thereof and a lower catenary cable 370 extends over these lower rollers and is supported thereby. The lower catenary cable is shown anchored at its two ends at the bottoms of the braces 324 and 326 although other anchoring points may be employed. A drive cable 388 is employed to open and close the roof structure 312 supported by the upper hanger rollers. The path of the drive cable 388 can be traced from a drive drum 361 driven by the output shaft 363 of a motor 365, thence upwardly over a first idler roller 367, thence to the upper roller of the hanger 335 to which it is secured. From the upper roller of the hanger 335 the cable extends over a second idler roller 369, thence to the upper roller secured to the hanger 349 to which the cable 388 is secured. From the upper hanger roller associated with hanger 349 the cable 388 passes over a third idler roller 371 and thence down to the drive drum 361. With such an arrangement, if the drive drum 361 is rotated in a clockwise direction, the hangers 335 and 349 will both be pulled toward the center of the two catenaries 334 and 370 by the cable 388 whereby to change the shape of the lower catenary and to open the roof with the roof material hanging in draped loops at the center of the structure. When the drum is rotated in a counterclockwise direction it will tend to move the two hangers 335 and 349 out toward the ends of the respective modules whereby to close the roof.

It will be seen that with a complete upper and lower catenary and with a symmetrical construction as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the height of the space under the lower catenary especially when the structure has the roof open is fairly limited. While for some applications such a construction may be desirable, if a high ceiling structure is desired, it is often more preferable to employ asymmetrical constructions as shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, especially Where the roof is moved relative to the modules as is true in all the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 through 6.

While I have herein shown and described the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

What I claim is:

1. A roofed structure comprising a plurality of cable modules, each of said modules including an upper downwardly curving cable, a lower upwardly curving cable supported at least in part by said upper cable, and a flaccid roof covering connected to one of said cables and supported at least in part thereby, and means for moving said flaccid roof covering relative to said cable modules for opening and closing the roof.

2. A roofed structure comprising a plurality of cable modules, each of said modules including an upper downwardly curving cable, a lower upwardly curving cable, and a plurality of hangers connected to said upper and lower cables for supporting said lower cable on said upper cable at least some of said hangers being movable relative to said cables in the plane defined thereby, and a flaccid roof covering oper-atively connected to said movable hangers and being movable therewith for opening and closing said roof, and means for moving said roof covering and said movable hangers.

3. A movable roof structure comprising a plurality of cable modules, each of said modules comprising .an upper downwardly curving cable, a lower upwardly curving cable fixed at one end and extending upwardly therefrom in a curve through a point of zero slope and thence downwardly through a second point of zero slope and thence sloping upwardly with the other end thereof fixed to said upper cable, a plurality of hangers mova'bly connected to said upper cable and to said lower cable for supporting said lower cable in said slope, a tie down operatively connected to said lower cable at said second point of zero slope and being pivotable about a horizontal axis, a flaccid roof covering movable mounted on said upper cables, and means for moving said roof covering relative to said upper cables for opening and closing said roof.

4. A movable roof structure comprising a plurality of cable modules, each of said modules comprising an upper downwardly curving cable, a lower upwardly curving cable fixed at one end and extending upwardly therefrom in a curve through a point of zero slope and thence downa wardly through a second point of zero slope and thence sloping upwardly with the other end thereof fixed to said upper cable, a plurality of hangers movably connected to said upper cable and to said lower cable for supporting said lower cable in said shape, two of said hangers being movably connected on the upper cable at spaced points and movably connected to said lower cable at said first point of zero slope, a tie down operatively connected to said lower cable at said second point of zero slope'and being pivotable about a horizontal axis, a flaccid roof covering associated with said plurality of cable modules and fixedly secured to said upper cables in the vicinity of the points at which said lower cables are fixed to said upper cables, the remainder of said roof covering being ward and away from said points of fixed securement for opening and closing said roof, and means for moving said remainder of said roof covering.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS movably mounted on said upper cables for movement to- 15 HARRISON MOSELEY, Examiner- 

1. A ROOFED STRUCTURE COMPRISING A PLURLITY OF CABLE MODULES, EACH OF SAID MODULES INCLUDING AN UPPER DOWNWARDLY CURVING CABLE, A LOWER UPWARDLY CURVING CABLE SUPPORTED AT LEAST IN PART BY SAID UPPER CABLE, AND A FLACCID ROOF COVERING CONNECTED TO ONE OF SID CABLES AND SUPPORTED AT LEAST IN PART THEREBY, AND MEANS FOR MOVING SAID FLACCID ROOF COVERING RELATIVE TO SAID CABLE MODULES FOR OPENING AND CLOSING THE ROOF. 